|
| “ | EEEEEEEEK! That's quite enough! I've had it with you annoying Yoshis! | „ |
| ~ Kamek yelling at Yoshi. |
| “ | Magikoopa magic! Turn the train spastic! Make this ticket tragic! | „ |
| ~ Kamek |
| “ | Welcome! It's time to face my magic! | „ |
| ~ Kamek |
Kamek is a major antagonist in the Mario franchise, most notably serving as the main antagonist of the Yoshi series.
He is an old, yet powerful Magikoopa and apparent advisor to Bowser as well as a father figure to Bowser in his youth. He is the highest-ranking member in the Koopa Troop not counting Bowser himself (as well as possibly Bowser Jr.). He first appeared in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. He was Baby Bowser's caretaker, and continues to look after Bowser, even in the present. He also serves as Yoshi’s archenemy alongside Baby Bowser, similar to how the adult version of Bowser is to Mario.
Kamek is the leader of his species known as the Magikoopas, and is sometimes referred to by his species' name.
He is voiced by Atsushi Masaki in the franchise.
Biography
Super Mario
Super Mario Galaxy
Kamek only appears during one of the opening cutscenes. When Mario attempts to enter Peach's Castle while Bowser lifts it space, Kamek blasts Mario with magic, taunting him to enjoy his flight as he flies off into space.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Kamek appears during each boss battle within the first seven worlds where he uses magic to alter the terrain of the Koopalings' arenas. He is later fought in the tower of World 8, using his magic to create blocks and summon enemies. After Mario defeats him, Kamek takes Peach from Bowser's airship to his castle. In Bowser's Castle, after Mario defeats Bowser, the princess inside the cage turns around to reveal Kamek, having fooled Mario. He then uses his magic to turn Bowser gigantic, only to be knocked aside when the Koopa King emerges from the lava.
New Super Mario Bros. U/New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
Kamek empowers Boom Boom during his boss fights starting from Layer-Cake Desert and empowers Boss Sumo Bro. at Screwtop Tower. Kamek himself is the boss of Slide Lift Tower, where he creates magical blocks to crush the player and turn the block floor into donut blocks. In The Final Battle, after Bowser's first phase is defeated, Bowser Jr. convinces Kamek to turn Bowser into Super Bowser.
Yoshi
Kamek appears as the main antagonist of the Yoshi series, first appearing as the central antagonist in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, and the future Kamek appears alongside Bowser (the game is set in the past) in Yoshi's Island DS.
One of his most recent appearances has been Yoshi's Wooly World, in which he turns nearly all the Yoshis into bundles of yarn, scattering them across different worlds. However, two Yoshis manage to avoid being transformed themselves, and they set off to pursue Kamek and rescue their woolly friends.
Kamek is also one of the two main antagonists in Yoshi's Crafted World. In this game, Kamek, along with Baby Bowser, tries to steal the Sundream Stone from the Yoshis; however, it loses all of its gems, making it useless, so Yoshi has to find them before Kamek and Baby Bowser do. After the Yoshis find most of the gems, Kamek and Baby Bowser decide to ambush them when they get the last one. Surely enough, just as they find the last gem, and try to put it in the Stone, Kamek swipes it and Baby Bowser uses its wish-granting power to create a giant robot named The Great King Bowser. However, after one of the Yoshis defeats it, Kamek then uses the Stone's power to empower the defeated Baby Bowser himself, turning him enormous, which triggers the final boss fight against the newly dubbed Mega Baby Bowser. However, he is still defeated by Yoshi, and in the aftermath, the Yoshis reattach the gems (which were detached again in the aftermath of the fight), restore the Sundream Stone for good, and use its power to create an airship to get them home. Later on, you can fight Kamek as a bonus boss in the Hidden Hills, where he expresses his desire for vengeance against the Yoshis roughing up Baby Bowser and uses noticeably harder variations of the techniques previous bosses used.
Mario Kart
Kamek was originally going to appear in Mario Kart 64 as a playable driver as seen in early screenshots, but was replaced with Donkey Kong. In Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Kamek can be seen observing the race on the Bowser Castle 3 track. In Mario Kart: Double Dash and Mario Kart DS, a sign advertising Kamek's magic show is seen in Baby Park.
Mario Party
Kamek appears as a non-playable character in almost all Mario Party installments since Mario Party 2. In Mario Party 5, Mario Party 6, and Mario Party 7, Kamek can be summoned in the Kamek orb. When someone lands on the space where the orb was used, Kamek appears and shuffles everyone's orbs. In Mario Party DS, Kamek hosts the board Kamek's Library, where he trapped Koopa's grandfather Koopa Krag in one of his library books.
Mario Tennis Aces
Kamek is an unlockable character obtained by participating in the April 2019 online tournament and became DLC on May 1, 2019. He is labeled under the Tricky type.
Mario Golf: World Tour
Kamek can be unlocked by collecting 45 Star Coins in Challenge Mode.
Mario & Luigi
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
Kamek appears as a minor antagonist in the game. He first appears in Baby Bowser's Castle, where he confronts both sets of Mario Bros. while looking for Baby Bowser. Thinking that they are threats and recognizing the Babies from the past, Kamek summons enemies to defeat them.
Later, after the Mario Bros. defeat Swiggler at the Vim Factory, Kamek appears to escort Baby Bowser after he steals the two Cobalt Star Shards from them. The two flee to Yoshi's Island. There, Kamek is forced to steal Yoshi Cookies for Baby Bowser. Eventually, he runs into the Mario Bros. after they come searching for the Cobalt Star Shards. Kamek attempts to halt their progress by setting fire to various parts of the Island, but the Bros are ultimately able to climb the mountain and find Baby Bowser. Cornered, Kamek decides to fight the Bros. himself, although he is defeated.
He does not appear again until the end of the game, where he is seen traveling back to Baby Bowser's Castle with Baby Bowser.
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story/Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey
Kamek is seen resuscitating Bowser at the beginning of the game following his defeat from Mario, flying away after Bowser swallows a Vacuum Shroom he obtains from a cloaked figure. He is not seen again until the end credits where he nurses Bowser back to health.
Kamek plays a far bigger role in the Bowser Jr.'s Journey mode in the remake, where he serves as Bowser Jr.'s aide during his quest to obtain a cure for the blorbs. He is a flying type unit and when classed as First Officer, he increases the team's power and defenses by 10%.
Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
Kamek comes with Bowser to Pi'illo Island. Following Mario and Luigi scaling Mount Pajamaja, Kamek secretly abducts Princess Peach back at Pi'illo Castle and disguises himself as her. In his plan to sneak enemies into the Dream World, "Peach" requests Mario and Luigi to escort her into the Dream World of Driftwood Shore to hide from Bowser and Antasma after they build Neo Bowser Castle.
After the Mario Bros. use the Dream Eggs released by the dream genies to expand the Dream World, Kamek reveals himself to the Bros. and has the Elite Trio battle them, but they lose. Angered, Kamek demotes them to janitors, much to their chagrin before evacuating. The Bros. later encounter Kamek again in Neo Bowser Castle where he mixes up the doorways and has to be fought three times. Before the first fight, he once again disguises himself as Peach, but the Bros. don't fall for it. In his first fight, Kamek creates four clones, a swarm of Dry Bones in the second, and a green, white, and red copies of himself in the third, all with different battle patterns.
Following his defeat, Kamek aids Bowser in the Dream World by increasing his size to become Giant Bowser. During the fight, Kamek commands a squad of Magikoopas to fire energy balls at giant Dreamy Luigi. Following Giant Bowser's defeat, Kamek and the Magikoopas use more magic to make Bowser massive, unintentionally causing him to be flung into the distance. After Dreamy Bowser is defeated, Kamek retreats from the collapsing Neo Bowser Castle on the Koopa Clown Car with the Elite Trio and Bowser. When the Zeekeeper breaks the Dream Coin causing thousands of coins to scatter, Private Goomp and Seargent Guy cause the car to shake so much while collecting the raining coins that it plummets into the ocean, prompting Kamek and Corporal Paraplonk to fly down and rescue them.
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
Kamek meets his paper counterpart, and like Bowser Jr., gets along with him. In Sunbeam Plains, the Kameks block off the entrance to Bowser's Castle using a Papercraft Goomba. Later on in Doop Doop Dunes, the Kameks create a Papercraft Kamek to crush the Mario Bros. and Paper Mario, but are foiled when Paper Toads bring out the Papercraft Luigi. Using it, the Mario Bros. destroy the Papercraft Kamek, forcing the two to retreat.
Later on, the Kameks place cardboard debris to block the path through Gloomy Woods, but the Mario Bros. get through with the help of Wiggler. Kamek attempts to stop them with a magic barrier, but the Bros. destroy it with Bob-ombs. At the end of Gloomy Woods, Paper Kamek uses his magic to brainwash Wiggler to battle the Bros. They defeat him, releasing his control on Wiggler.
In Mount Brr, the Kameks advise Bowser Jr. and Paper Bowser Jr. to leave as Mario was approaching, but they refuse as they wanted to play with their new Papercraft. After the Mario Bros. use Papercraft Peach to destroy Papercraft Bowser Jr., the Kameks fly off with the Juniors. Once the Mario Bros. finally reach Bowser's Castle, the Kameks unleash the Papercraft King Boo piloted by Morton and Lemmy. They taunt the Bros. for lacking anymore Papercraft, only to literally fall from their brooms in dismay upon seeing Papercraft Yoshi.
After defeating Papercraft King Boo, the Kameks kidnap Toadette to prevent any more Papercrafts from being developed and later blast off the Mario Bros. when Bowser's Castle takes flight to become Neo Bowser Castle. After the Mario Bros. reach Neo Bowser Castle using Paper Toads from the summit of Mount Brrr, the Kameks assist the Bowsers in rebuilding the previous Papercraft bosses. After destroying them, the Kameks take one last stand to stop the Mario Bros. themselves, but are defeated. As they lied wounded, the Kameks admit it was fun working together but eventually begin insulting each other. Annoyed, the Mario Bros. jump on their heads to silence them, causing them to burst into stars.
Paper Mario
Paper Mario: Sticker Star
Kamek is first encountered in World 1-3, Water's Edge Way. When Mario approaches the Comet Piece, Kamek challenges him to a battle. He is aided by two Goombas and sits on his broom, firing magic blasts at Mario. After being defeated, Kamek paperizes the Comet Piece and flings it away before leaving.
Later on, Kamek encounters Mario once again in World 2-2, Yoshi Sphinx. On the tongue of the Yoshi Sphinx, Kamek battles Mario, cheating by turning all of Mario's stickers into Flip-flops. In World 3-3, Wiggler's Tree House, Kamek uses magic to separate Wiggler from his segments, forcing Mario to find them and bring them back. In World 4-3, the Enigmansion, Kamek opens the Book of Sealing, releasing a swarm of Boos to come out and haunt the mansion. After Mario successfully places all the Boos back into the book and returns it to its pedestal, Kamek comes out of hiding and not only opens the book again, but magically combines the Boos to become a Big Boo to fight Mario.
Kamek makes one last appearance in World 6-3, Bowser's Sky Castle. Upon reaching the castle doors, Kamek comes out to battle Mario one last time. He once again turns Mario's stickers into Flip-flops and can also clone himself. Once defeated, Kamek dissolves into ash. Despite this, he is revealed to have survived and appears in the end parade introducing the Koopa Troop.
Paper Mario: Color Splash
Kamek can appear very rarely in any battle, where he can curse Mario's card collection in addition to disabling Battle Spins and preventing him from fleeing the battle. These curses include turning the cards worn-out, taking all but six cards, or changing all the cards.
Kamek himself only appears in the Sacred Forest. Upon approaching a Green Mini Paint Star, Kamek ambushes Mario and shrinks him in size while also cursing his stars. After losing some health, Kamek steals all of Mario's cards and attempts to turn him massive, but only turning him normal size again. This allows Mario to defeat Kamek and he explodes into Paint and Hammer Scraps. Even with his defeat, Kamek can still appear in random battles.
Paper Mario: The Origami King
Kamek appears as an ally to Mario, where he can use his magic to damage enemies. He is encountered in Shangri-Spa, where he tells Mario and Olivia that after Bowser's Castle was overrun by Folded Soldiers, Kamek accidentally pressed the wrong button while accessing the emergency defense system and turned off the engines, causing the castle to fall and crush the spa's banquet hall. To pay for the damage, Kamek and the unfolded minions were forced to do grounds-keeping work. After Bowser Jr. is cut up by Scissors, Kamek aids Mario in visiting all the hot springs to restore Bowser Jr. On the way to the Spring of Jungle Mist, during multiple forks in the road, Kamek will always choose the correct way.
Once Bowser Jr. is restored to normal, Kamek rallies the minions in the spa to reclaim Bowser's Castle from the Folded Soldiers. While leading Mario to search for a key to Bowser's quarters, Kamek suddenly vanishes along with the other minions. It is later revealed he was cut up by Scissors and his face, along with the other minions, were stuck to the Paper Mistake Buzzy Beetle, granted magic by Kamek. Once Kamek is peeled off, the Paper Mistake Buzzy Beetle loses its magical powers. Once Mario defeats Scissors, Kamek and the other cut up minions are returned to normal.
Kamek later assists Mario and Bowser towards Peach's Castle/Origami Castle on the airship, assisting with fighting the Paper Plane Squadron. After the airship collides with one plane and crashes into Hotfoot Crater, Kamek helps Mario, Olivia, and Bowser Jr. escape from the wreckage. Suddenly, a massive horde of Paper Macho Goombas appear and chase the party up the volcano. Kamek chooses to sacrifice himself and creates clones of himself to hold the horde back. Unfortunately, Kamek loses his strength and is trampled.
However, Kamek survives and assists Luigi escort the Origami Craftsman to the throne room after Mario defeats King Olly. Once all the origami was reversed, Kamek attends the Origami Festival with the rest of the Koopa Troop.
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Kamek appears as a minor antagonist in the game, although he is referred to as "Magikoopa". After the Smithy Gang takes over Bowser's Keep, he joins Bowser's forces in their attempt to take it back. Eventually, he goes missing and is brainwashed by the Smithy Gang. He reappears at Bowser's Keep, where he attempts to stop Mario's party by summoning enemies. When they make it past that, he fights the party himself. After his defeat, he remembers his loyalty to Bowser and helps the party by creating a coin block that never runs out of coins and healing the party when spoken to.
Dr. Mario World
Kamek was added to Dr. Mario World as Dr. Kamek in the December 2019 update. His ability eliminates four of the most common virus color in the stage.
Super Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Kamek appears as two stickers. One is based on his appearance in Yoshi Touch & Go, which increases projectile attacks for any character. The other sticker, based on his appearance from Yoshi's Island, boosts magic attacks for Peach and Zelda.
Super Smash Bros. for 3DS/Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
Kamek appears in both Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U as a trophy, as part of the Yoshi's Island Trophy Box. In the Wii U version, he appears on the Mushroom Kingdom U stage, in which he will transverse the stage into one of four layouts. In Smash Tour, he can appear randomly to change the position of the checkpoints. In the 3DS version, Kamek appeared as an enemy in Smash Run, attacking with magic that reduces the player's stats.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Kamek reprises his role in the Mushroom Kingdom U stage, and as a primary grab type spirit. His ability increases magic based attacks. His spirit battle is against four Inklings equipped with Star Rods where everyone (including the player) is easy to launch.
Mario & Sonic
Kamek appears as a rival for the BMX event in the 3DS version of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games and a rival for the Legends Showdown mode of Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.
Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition
Despite being one of the antagonists of the game and the one behind casting orbs around the Mushroom Kingdom, Kamek only appears during cutscenes when Bowser Jr. is defeated and never fought or recruited.
Club Nintendo
In the German comic "Mario in Mariozilla", Kamek attempts to shrink Mario only for the spell to backfire and Mario grows massive. Kamek enlarges himself and the two clash in New York City. During their fight, Mario breaks Kamek's broom, causing them to shrink down to ant size, with only Dr. Light able to transform them back. Upon returning to their normal size, the two apologize and makeup with a hug.
Role in the Koopa Troop
Kamek's role in the Koopa Troop is yet to be made completely clear. What is certain is that he is Bowser's caretaker and possibly was once the caretaker of the previous Koopa king. Although Kamek is of the highest rank in the Koopa Troop, his actual title and role are not really known. He does seem to have a certain level of military command; especially back when Bowser was young, when he took almost complete control of the army of the Koopas. This was shown again in Yoshi's Island DS, although this is the present-day incarnation of the wizard, confirming that he still maintains a position as one of Bowser's generals. He spends a lot more time actually in the field than Bowser, and may also serve as one of Bowser's individual agents.
There is also a possibility that he is the head of the Magikoopas who serve under Bowser, in the same manner that Goomboss rules the Goombas as a "puppet king". This is evidenced by the Magikoopa bio from Mario Superstar Baseball, which calls him "the best of the Magikoopas", and in Super Princess Peach, where he commands the only legion of them in the entire game (although this Magikoopa is only assumed be Kamek due to his important role of guarding Luigi and his magical abilities).
If Kamek is about the same rank as Kammy Koopa, a fellow main Magikoopa, it is likely that he will be ranked slightly below Bowser and take orders only from the Royal Family themselves.
Powers and Abilities
The Koopa Wands, magical arsenal of both the royal Koopa family and the Magikoopas.
Kamek is an extremely powerful sorcerer and is proficient in black magic, knowing lots of spells. He also has many magical powers: flying on a broom, teleporting, divination, creation of pink geometric magic projectiles, change of sizes of living beings or objects, pyrokinesis, duplication, mental projection, and many more.
He also has access to a large library of magic books, and has some mechanical skills.
Trivia
- It could be possible that Bowser is the way he is because Kamek raised him to have the attitude of a dictator.
- If this is the case, this would actually make Kamek the overarching antagonist of the entire franchise as well as the original ruler of the Koopa Kingdom before Bowser took over. If it weren't for him, Bowser wouldn't have been evil in the first place.
- If one were to keep listening to Kamek's theme in Yoshi's Island, you would discover that his theme is just a loop of a 7-second tune.
- To date, the only Yoshi game he has not appeared in is Yoshi's Story. In this game, Baby Bowser was the main antagonist.
- All Magikoopas are called Kamek in Japan. However, the one named Kamek internationally is assumed to be the same one who took care of Bowser as an infant.
- The name difference for the Magikoopa species across regions has occasionally led to naming errors within games. The international versions of Super Princess Peach call all the Magikoopas Kamek and there are instances within the Mario Party series where Toadies are referred to as Magikoopas.
